Pretend a moment that you work for a fashion magazine. We assume that you and your co-workers will consider the office as a clearing-house for your professional careers, right? Everyone has different reasons for how they dress. Some choose their outfits according to their level of confidence and humor while others dress up wonderfully to impress their peers or set trends.
It is known that those who dressed in a certain way for personal reasons have an intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, those who base their outfits by social pressure or by fitting into a group are examples of people with extrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic motivation occurs when the actions you perform are to receive external feedback such as compliments, rewards, medals and recognition or to avoid danger and discouraging criticism. People with extrinsic motivation focus more on the outcome than on the (positive) emotions associated with their behavior.
The intrinsic motivation on the other hand is fed by participating in activities that you really enjoy and that you do not feel that you are pressured or forced to do. These are things we do when time seems to fly by.
Motivation is what determines what we do, how we do it and how much we can achieve. It has been proven that our performance is as great as our motivation. The less inspired we are, the worse our performance will be. If your colleagues are not motivated and your environment is toxic, your only source of inspiration will be yourself.